Seasonal Outdoor Recreation
by greendale student
Summary: Troy, Abed, and Annie go sledding. Post-season 6, Troy is back and Abed and Annie are a couple.


An icy winter wind sweeps across the exposed top of a Colorado mesa, tossing flecks of powdery snow into the air where they sparkle in the sun. Large expanses of snow are still undisturbed after the previous day's storm, but here and there animals have left footprints in their paths. A coyote, following the fresh trail of a rabbit near the mesa's edge, freezes suddenly, sensing an unfamiliar presence. Down the gentle slope away from the cliff tops, three figures in thick winter coats are approaching, taking turns pulling a large object behind them.

The trio stop for a moment to look as the coyote studies them. "Hey there. We're not gonna bother you," Troy calls out. Unconvinced, the canine takes off across the plateau, kicking up snow as he disappears from view in the distance.

"Stay away from roadrunners and ACME products," Abed adds by way of advice. Annie laughs affectionately, eyes still wide with wonder from the encounter. The three roommates resume walking towards the cliffs, Abed pulling the toboggan.

As they reach the edge of the mesa, they stop to contemplate the view. Off to the west the foothills of the Rockies climb ridge after ridge to the mountain peaks in the far distance. North and east, streets and houses are scattered over the ground for miles. The familiar buildings of the Greendale campus can be glimpsed in the midst of the suburbs. It's the middle of winter break; the campus will be quietly awaiting the return of its students.

Troy, Abed, and Annie turn their eyes downward to the view of more immediate concern for their plans. At the foot of the mesa, houses stand widely spaced in big yards along a secluded street. Just outside the backyard fences, the land curves upward into a dizzyingly steep hillside, a wall of snow that looks bluish in the shadows, climbing some six hundred feet to where the would-be sledders stand. At the top, the mountainside becomes a sheer cliff, sharp rocks jutting out from the snow.

"It's like something from _Calvin and Hobbes_ ," Troy says in an awed tone.

Abed nods seriously. "Assuming cartoon physics don't apply here, we might need to look for a different starting point." There's no way to safely start a sled ride from here, nor is there a plausible route to climb down.

They explore further along the side of the plateau, walking a respectful distance back from the cliffs. At a point where the mountain curves inwards, Annie cautiously returns to the edge for a look. "This might work," she calls to the others. Joining her, they see a break in the jagged cliffs. Here the drop-off is still frighteningly abrupt, but smooth and not quite vertical. Still, it's a long way to go at a daunting angle. They'd planned this out ahead of time, but it seemed a lot more sensible when not actually confronted with the view from up here. "Maybe if we go a little sideways, not straight down?" she ventures. "Can we steer the sled that well?"

"Uh, I piloted a twenty-five-foot sailboat through a tropical cyclone, I think I can handle a toboggan," Troy announces. The mesa is a lot taller than any wave he encountered on his sea voyage, but at least it's not trying to fall on them, right?

Abed sets down the toboggan beside the most gradual starting point. "Looks like a call to adventure to me. Ready for a Hero's Journey?" He gives Annie a quick kiss on the lips and she blushes slightly, still easily affected by such gestures even now that they've been together for months. Troy and Abed do their handshake, the three roommates spend another nervous moment staring at the path in front of them, and then they climb onto the sled.

Troy sits at the back where he has the most control over the toboggan's direction; Abed squeezes into the middle, holding on to Annie who has the lookout position in the front. They adjust their coats, check that they all have a good grip on the sled's rope handle and each other, then Troy pushes them forward.

The sled plunges abruptly into empty air, hitting the snow on the mountainside with jarring force. Shaken loose by the impact, a cloud of powdery snow ripples downhill. The riders scream as they accelerate; Annie and Abed quickly have their faces covered in snow from the spray kicked up by the sled. Troy is more sheltered behind them, but can't see enough of what's in front of them to navigate. He manages to push them a little to the side to make the descent less steep, but the toboggan maintains a speed somewhere between exhilarating and panic-inducing.

Recovering from the initial shock, Annie laughs and brushes some snow out of her eyes so she can fulfill her duties as lookout. As it turns out, her timing is fortunate. "Boulder at eleven o'clock!" she yells. Troy kicks at the snow repeatedly; at first it doesn't do much, then the sled swerves away from the rock more sharply than he intended. As they pass directly beneath their starting point, curving back and forth like skiers, all three of them are covered by flying snow kicked up from the start of their ride.

Clear of the obstacle, Troy manages to turn the sled back towards its original course. "All clear!" Annie shouts, barely audible over the wind. Indeed, as they arc back to pass below their earlier path once more, now much of the way down the hill, the terrain ahead looks easier. It's Abed who thinks to glance back up the mountain.

"Uh, guys? We may have inadvertently started an avalanche."

From the moment they started down, snow had been knocked loose by the sled, tumbling downhill. It's been gradually picking up momentum on the way, until now there's a formidable cloud of it about to cross paths with them once more. They scream again as it closes in.

For a moment they're surrounded by flying snow, like an instant blizzard, and they have to fight to hold on to the sled as it tips sideways. Then they're through the avalanche, all three thoroughly coated in snow but unharmed. As the sled speeds toward the bottom of the mountain, Annie laughs in delight. "This is awesome!" Abed concurs.

" _Hey_ , I don't want to ruin the moment," Troy cuts in, "but it turns out toboggans are harder to steer than sailboats." Annie gasps as she looks ahead. They're headed straight towards a rather tall wooden fence with deep snowdrifts piled against it. Even if they could steer, there are more yards and houses on either side and they're approaching fast.

"I have a plan," Troy says.

"What is it?" Annie asks.

" **BAIL!** "

They jump clear of the sled and roll into the snow at high speed, thankfully cushioned by the deep, soft drifts piled at the foot of the mountain. Annie grabs Abed's hand and they end up curled up together. Troy lands face-first in the snow and staggers to his feet looking like a polar explorer who's been lost in a blizzard for days. They all get up and stare at the cliff towering above them, amazed that they actually tried this. Then they turn around to look for the sled, just in time to see it hit the fence, flip upwards, and fly over the top to disappear from view in somebody's backyard.

"Cool. Cool. Cool cool cool." Abed sums up the experience.

There's still the matter of retrieving the sled. They walk out to the street and knock on the front door of the house with the fenced-in yard, but no one answers. "We should have expected that," Abed explains. "Some guest star solving the problem for us wouldn't be a dramatically satisfying conclusion to an adventure this awesome. We need to do a caper."

Troy agrees enthusiastically; Annie hesitates slightly, but with the elation of the sled ride still fresh she decides to commit to seizing the day. "How's that a-minus in accounting look _now_ , Professor Whitman!" she exclaims as they sneak around to the back.

"Nice callback, it helps connect what could be a simple standalone episode to your overall character arc."

Annie smiles. "Thank you, Abed. Now, give me a boost."

Troy and Abed are able to lift Annie high enough that she can get a grip on the top of the fence. Peeking over, she studies the yard with increasing concern. No toboggan is immediately visible. There's a picnic table covered in snow and a lot of cat and dog tracks all over the lawn. But it's what's just below her vantage point that makes Annie gasp. "We've got trouble," she whispers. "They have a swimming pool." Troy and Abed exchange nervous glances.

Annie pulls herself over the fence and drops to the ground on the other side. Her suspicions are confirmed: the occupants of the house having neglected to cover their pool for the winter, the sled has landed in the water. The good news is that it floats; it was just close enough to the fence to be blocked from view when she first peered over the top. However, it's also barely out of reach from dry land. Annie runs to open the gate so Troy and Abed can join her.

Troy wants to swim after the sled, but Annie objects to the risk of hypothermia. Instead they find that by splashing the water on one side of the pool, they can make enough waves to push the toboggan toward the other edge. Troy pulls it out of the water, getting only an arm wet. Working together, the three of them manage to lift it over the fence and drop it on the other side. They go back to the gate, Annie relieved that their escapade didn't get them in trouble. Then she hears a shout.

"Freeze! Police."

They look around for the source of the warning—the voice came from somewhere outside the fence. "I can explain!" Annie protests, trying not to panic. Then she sees someone approaching—a young boy, maybe eleven or so, carrying a walkie-talkie and what looks like a real badge. He looks familiar.

"Officer Warburton?" Annie asks tentatively.

"What is going on?" Troy wonders.

Abed provides the necessary exposition. "While you were sailing around the world, Greendale's computer systems were hacked. It turns out that the local police department's cyber-security expert is a child who incongruously acts like a character in a hyper-serious neo-noir crime drama."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, things got pretty surreal and experimental for a while around season six. Without you around to participate in imaginative adventures, there may have been a need for extra weirdness from outside sources."

Annie explains the situation and apologizes for trespassing. "Well, what's one more lawless act when you've seen the things I have," Warburton muses. "I guess I can let you go with a warning."

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

"One of my former hacking associates lives in this neighborhood and I suspect he's up to something serious."

"Brilliant deduction," a new voice announces. A half-dozen kids are standing on the sidewalk nearby, and they're all holding snowballs.

Warburton stares at them, alarmed. "You lured me here," he snarls.

"You betrayed us!" the leader of the newcomers says. "Now you need to pay."

The gang charges at Warburton, flinging snowballs as he runs away. Troy, Abed, and Annie exchange glances and nod with shared determination. Scooping up snow, they fling it back at the hackers. Then they turn to follow Warburton, back towards the mountain.

Their adversaries are good at snowball fighting, and they're close behind. "This way!" Abed shouts, pointing towards another fenced-in yard a couple houses down from the spot where they finished their sled ride. This fence was in the path of the avalanche, and the snow has piled high up against it. Scrambling to the top of the mound of snow, Troy and Abed start excavating while Annie and Warburton throw snowballs to hold off the pursuit. Soon they've created a snow fort big enough to provide cover for all of them. The rest of the kids back off to a safe distance.

"Did we win?" Annie asks when the snow stops flying.

"Not quite. There's still the final showdown." Abed points up the hill. The kids have captured the toboggan the roommates went to so much trouble to retrieve and carried it a hundred feet or so uphill. Two of them climb on and start their way down, heading straight for the snow fort. The other four charge from either side, again pelting them with snowballs.

"I have an idea." Annie whispers a plan to Troy and Abed.

"That sounds risky," Abed warns.

"I could do it instead," offers Troy.

"Thanks, but you're forgetting that _I'm_ the one who took self-defense classes every school year." Annie gives Abed a quick kiss, thinking of the end of the second paintball game, and jumps out of the snow fort as the sled approaches. She rolls down the side of the fort while the toboggan climbs up it, propelled by the momentum gained on the way down the hill. Annie grabs hold of the string on the sled and pulls it sideways; it topples over, spilling the passengers on the ground before they can breach the fort. The kids try to wrestle her, but she pushes them away easily. Cheering, Troy and Abed fling snowballs at the hackers with impressive speed and accuracy. The leader of the gang manages to scramble to the edge of the snow fort, where Warburton throws a large pile of loose snow in his face. Caught off-guard by the fierce resistance, the kids turn to flee.

When Annie climbs back to the snow fort, she does a celebratory dance with her roommates, wondering how they'll top this adventure back at Greendale. Somehow she thinks they'll come up with something.

"Should we go home and warm up?" Troy inquires.

Annie leans against Abed, thinking of ways they could help each other warm up. But there's plenty of time for that, she reminds herself, studying the snowy cliffs above them. "Not yet. I'm going again!" And the trio grab the sled and begin making their way back up the mountain.


End file.
